What kind of spider is this?

It's been a few years since I've seen one of these around here, but they always seem to show up this time of year. Are they dangerous to dogs or humans? It's right by the front door.

It looks like an Argiope aurantia or Black and Yellow Garden Spider...not venomous but you never know about a possible allergic reaction..they make really big webs..leave them alone because they will eat all the bugs!!: )

Originally Posted by South Dixie Dragons

leave them alone because they will eat all the bugs!!: )

Then he / she is a welcome addition to the porch.

The pattern on it's back looks cool. Almost like a face.

They seem to be fairly common here in north Florida, however these Golden Orb Spiders seem to be taking over.



They are literally all over the place around here.

We have lots of the garden spiders around here, I think they're really pretty....and yes, they eat a lot of bugs, lol.

And wow, the orb spiders are beautiful too.....are they as large as the garden spiders? I don't ever recall seeing anything like those....of course, anything smart avoids Iowa and its cold winters...

The orb spiders are larger, by a good margin. Their web is VERY strong, so it you walk into it, not only do you have this large spider on your head, but you are pretty much wrapped up in that web. For an arachnophobe, I suspect it would be a memorable event, to say the least.

A aurantiaca seems to like the eye-level and below in web height, having them all over a field in the dewy early morning is a neet sight, mixed in with them are the silver ones and shamrock spiders.
N clavipes usually likes eye-level and above, but interesting enough n.c. likes smaller prey as they cannot throw web over prey the way a.a. can
Catch a cricket or a grass hopper and try it, n.c. will rush in and attempt a bite and a.a. will wrap that sucker up. try it

That's how I stopped the kids from wanting to kill all of the garden spiders, lol....I showed them how neat it was to catch a fly or a moth and toss it into the web. They think that's "way cool"!

As far as I know, the garden spiders are the largest spiders around here, I wish we had more varieties of the large (but non-poisonous) spiders around here, I think watching them in nature is absolutely fascinating.

Originally Posted by John Apple

A aurantiaca seems to like the eye-level and below in web height, having them all over a field in the dewy early morning is a neet sight, mixed in with them are the silver ones and shamrock spiders.
N clavipes usually likes eye-level and above, but interesting enough n.c. likes smaller prey as they cannot throw web over prey the way a.a. can
Catch a cricket or a grass hopper and try it, n.c. will rush in and attempt a bite and a.a. will wrap that sucker up. try it

Her web is less than 12" above the porch floor. I tossed a few crickets into the web, and all she did was start 'pumping' to make the web bounce back and forth. The crickets kept falling out of the web, and she didn't seem too interested. Maybe because they were too big? The only ones I could get to stick to the web were crickets with a much larger body size than her own.

Either way, I was kinda hoping to wake up and find that she had written some really cool saying in her web, like "Beware of Dog" or "Paul is cool". Oh well. Maybe tomorrow